Saturday, June 1, 2013

My favorite example is old John Wilkes, a libertine demagogue, who used the patriot cause again and again as ammunition for his political diatribes. In some ways, the Massachusetts patriots couldn't have been further from Wilkes's line of view: he was having orgies while they were attending prayer meetings. And yet, they adored him. They knew that he strongly supported their cause, even if they didn't know his other causes. You can see him in one of his publications holding a liberty pole, which clearly indicates that he is showing off to the London public sphere that he supports the American Cause. I love the idea that puritanical, prudish patriots found an ally in the licentious John Wilkes.

The G8 Summit is coming to Fermanagh, a county in Northern Ireland that has been devastated by austerity. To spruce things up and maintain the fiction that austerity will get us out of the global economic depression, the county has spent £300,000 giving local businesses "a facelift" -- including installing a fake butcher-shop window full of imaginary meat in a derelict storefront.

3. "The Alamogordo, N.M. city commission just approved excavation of a garbage dump that allegedly holds the remains of millions of games for the Atari 2600, according to KRQE television. Specifically, the dump is the resting place for the unsold copies of the movie-licensed title E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial."